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Use Premium money properly – and supporting young carers would be a good start

On Thursday, Oftsed published a report on how the Pupil Premium is being used. The pupil premium is a good thing. It means that schools with disadvantaged children get more money, hopefully to spend on the things which will enable those children to succeed. Things like an extra teaching assistant for example, or breakfast clubs maybe. Although half the schools said they think it is having a positive impact, few could back this up.

However, for it to do its job it needs to be spent in the right way, and targeted at the kids who need it. As with so many other things, it is not ringfenced and schools can spend the money in any way they wish. And I understand that schools need so many things. I live in one of the poorest boroughs of London. Luckily the secondary school down the road from me managed to sneak in as one of the last schools to benefit from the money made available by the last Government to upgrade some of the tattiest school estate. It’s made a huge difference. It’s no good saying here’s a small amount of money to raise attainment if the school building is falling down round all your ears. However, somehow we need to make sure that the Pupil Premium money is used to benefit those it is intended to.

Although being a young carer in its own right doesn’t qualify for the pupil premium, a high promotion of young carers are eligible for free school meals because their family lives on a low income. Our paper last year showed how using just some of that money to support young carers would make a massive difference. Read our pupil premium and young carers paper here to find out how a small amount of money – to support a member of staff to be a young carers lead, for example, or to have a young carers worker running a few support sessions can really make a difference.